A Mother's Choice
by Queen Apolline
Summary: "My lord?" Lucius said, stepping into the room with a bow. "Yes, Lucius?" Voldemort replied, not looking up from the paperwork he was filling out. "There's been a…development, with Potter." "What sort of development, Luciusss?" Voldemort asked slowly, drawing out the 's' as he only did when he was annoyed. Lucius gulped, before saying, "She's pregnant." AU. Fem!Harry Sane!Voldemort
1. An Unexpected Development

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **Author's Note: This was originally a one-shot, and this chapter is mostly short vignettes of Valerie Potter's pregnancy and life with her children until they go to Hogwarts. The next chapter will be more continuous. I may flesh out the shorter scenes more later, but for now they are just snippets of life.**

 **WARNINGS: Non-explicit childbirth.**

"My lord?" Lucius said, stepping into the room with a bow.

"Yes, Lucius?" Voldemort replied, not looking up from the paperwork he was filling out.

"There's been a…development, with Potter."

That caused the Dark Lord to look up. Valerie Potter had been captured two days before during a raid, and was currently in the basement of Malfoy Manor. While dangerous to keep her somewhere that the Order of the Phoenix could locate, it was better than holding her in the dungeons at the Dark Headquarters when she would inevitably escape and lead the Order back to them.

"What sort of development, Luciusss?" Voldemort asked slowly, drawing out the 's' as he only did when he was annoyed.

Lucius gulped, before saying, "She's pregnant."

That was…unexpected, to say the least. As far as their Light side spies knew, Valerie Potter was the epitome of a pure, goody-two-shoes, saving-my-virginity-for-marriage girl. They were also relatively sure that she was single. So the fact that Valerie Potter either knew someone well enough to sleep with them or was sleeping around for the fun of it was somewhat shocking.

Voldemort felt the need to clarify.

"Potter. As in the Gryffindor Golden Girl Potter? Perfectly Pure Potter? Doesn't breathe without Dumbledore's approval Potter?"

"She's the only Potter still living," Lucius reminded.

Voldemort waved his hand dismissively.

"I'm sure that there is a multitude of Muggle Potters wandering about. But you are talking about the witch Potter, correct? The one in your basement?"

"Yes, my Lord."

Voldemort stared at him for a moment before sighing.

"I suppose I should see if Potter's willing to make a deal."

LINEBREAK

"What do you want, you snake-faced son of a Muggle?" Valerie Potter spat as Voldemort entered the small room she had been trapped in for the past two days. Her legs were shackled directly to the floor, without even a chain to allow her movement, and her arms were drawn up behind her by chains. It was a decidedly uncomfortable position.

"Now, now, Miss Potter, that is no way to treat someone who is willing to make a deal with you," the Dark Lord chided.

"Sorry, I don't make deals with the devil," she sneered.

"You may change your mind quickly," he replied. With a casual flick of his wand, she was rearranged so that she was loosely chained to a chair instead.

"Are you aware that you are pregnant?" Voldemort asked conversationally.

Her face paled, and for the first time, he saw Valerie Potter look well and truly afraid.

"What?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, though one of her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach. "Why should I believe you?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"Do you know the pregnancy detection spell?" he asked her.

She gave a short, crisp nod.

Voldemort pointed his wand at her stomach, ignoring her stiffening, and incanted, " _Conceptum Revelio_!"

A saturated purple glow surrounded her stomach.

"Congratulations, Miss Potter. You are pregnant with twins, a male and a female."

If possible, the girl paled further.

"Please…don't hurt my babies. I'll do anything…just don't hurt them," she whispered, looking for once the teenaged girl she actually was.

"You are in luck, Miss Potter, because I prefer to preserve magical blood. I am not in the habit of killing mothers, especially pregnant ones. However, you have been a thorn in my side for far too long. I will not allow you to leave this place with anything less than a magical oath."

The girl took a deep breath and raised her chin.

"What do you want from me?"

Voldemort barely prevented the smirk from reaching his lips.

"You catch on quickly. Very well: I want you to swear that you will no longer fight against me or my cause and that you will change your identity and never reveal your magic to anyone else," he stated.

Something flashed in her eyes as she sat up straighter, and Voldemort could feel the headache known as Valerie Potter returning.

"I refuse to agree to something so one-sided. I have no guarantees that you won't just kill me on a whim! I want an oath that you won't harm the three of us, and that you'll protect my children," she argued.

"Why should I protect your children?" Voldemort sneered.

"Because you said I can't reveal my magic, so I therefore can't protect them myself," she said simply.

Voldemort resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but knew that she had a point.

"Very well. Make your oath," he ordered.

The Potter girl did roll her eyes.

"I, Valerie Lillian Potter, swear on my magic not to fight the Dark Lord Voldemort, also known as Tom Marvolo Riddle…"

She ignored the hiss the man let out as his proper name.

"…or his forces, and to change my identity and not reveal to anyone that I have magic, so long as the Dark Lord Voldemort, also known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, protects my children. So mote it be."

Light flashed around her, and she looked to Voldemort expectedly.

He let out a sigh, but still said, "I, the Dark Lord Voldemort, formerly known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, do swear on my magic not to harm Valerie Lillian Potter or her offspring, and I swear to do my best to protect said offspring. So mote it be."

Light flashed around him as well.

"Now that we have covered the basics, we have two options. One, we can provide a Muggle house, bank accounts, and identity for you, and you can go there immediately. Two, you can stay in my Headquarters until you children are born and then go live in the Muggle world. The only difference is the way you give birth," Voldemort said.

The girl bit her lip in concentration.

"Which is safer?"

Voldemort blinked in surprise. He thought the girl would choose the option that got her away from him the fastest.

"Magical births are safer than Muggle ones," he said slowly. "We have a much lower infant mortality rate than the Muggles do."

She nodded firmly.

"I would like to remain in the Magical world until my children are born," she stated.

"You do know that this will put you in close proximity to me for the next eight or nine months," Voldemort warned.

"I know."

"You will be housed in my private wing, and not allowed to leave."

"I suspected as much. Do you have a library in your wing?"

Voldemort blinked.

"Of course."

"Then I will stay there, and you will do whatever it is Dark Lords do when they're not trying to kill off their enemies, and we'll coexist peacefully," the girl said, far too cheerful for Voldemort's taste.

"You are aware that you have just agreed to spend the next eight to nine months with a Dark Lord, correct?" Voldemort asked again, trying to assure himself of her words.

She looked up at him with big green eyes that were beginning to fill with tears.

"Are you saying that you don't want me around?"

Voldemort was a Dark Lord. He could deal with madmen, Inferi, and ripping someone's intestines out with his bare hands, but a crying woman was not something he knew how to deal with.

"What are you trying to do here, Miss Potter?" he nearly growled.

The tears were rolling down her cheeks now.

"I – I'm sorry, my hormones have been all over the place this week…at least I know why now. Do you have a handkerchief?" she asked between sniffles.

Voldemort pulled a white handkerchief, embroidered with silver and green snakes, out of his pocket and handed it to her, before releasing the chains around her. He grimaced as she blew her nose loudly.

"Up, Miss Potter. I have things to do which do not include you," he demanded before nearly dragging her out of the chair and Apparating back to his Headquarters.

The girl looked around, wide-eyed.

"I expected more blood and guts, though the snake motif was entirely predictable."

"This is Salazar Slytherin's Ancient Halls, not a butcher's shop. Blood and guts are required to stay on the lowest level of the dungeons," Voldemort replied.

"How many are there?" she asked.

"Four."

She stopped in shock.

"Who needs four levels of dungeons?"

"A man who single-handedly invited the entire Potions curriculum of Hogwarts," Voldemort responded drily.

"Why do you always brew potions in a basement? Wouldn't the ventilation be better if it was in a tower? Plus, wouldn't that reduce the risk of structural damages if only the roof of the tower could be blown apart by a faulty potion?" she inquired.

"The majority of potions cannot be brewed with any exposure to sunlight, and most potions labs are warded against explosions and enchanted for ventilation purposes," Voldemort lectured before leading her to a closed door and opening it.

Inside was a large sitting room that led to an equally large bedroom.

"It has a private bath and a walk-in closet," Voldemort said. "I will assign a house-elf to you to take care of your needs. Do not leave this wing. The library is the double-doors next door. You are welcome there. The double doors at the end of the hall is my bedroom. Do not go in if you value your freedom. The door on the opposite side is my study, where I can normally be found if I am not dealing with Death Eaters. I will leave the door open unless I am with one of my followers. You are not permitted to be seen in those circumstances. A house-elf will show you around otherwise. Good night."

He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Valerie stood in shock for a moment, until a house-elf popped up.

"I's Kessy. Master be assigning Kessy to helps you, Master's Guest!" the house-elf chirped.

"Hello, Kessy, it's a pleasure to meet you," Valerie said kindly. "My name is Valerie Potter, but you can call me Val."

The house-elf looked at Valerie with the wide, tear-filled eyes that she associated with the small creatures being thanked.

"Missy Valerie is so very kind to Kessy! Kessy is being proud to serve Missy Valerie!" the house-elf exclaimed.

Valerie smiled at her.

"Could you get me something to eat, Kessy? Nothing heavy, I haven't eaten in a couple days. And after that, I'd like a bath, if you don't mind."

"Of course, Missy Valerie!" the house-elf said excitedly before popping out.

That was the start of an eight month stay with the Dark Lord.

LINEBREAK

It only took Valerie a week to get lonely and decide that even Voldemort's company would suffice. So she asked Kessy if Voldemort had regular times that he took his meals in the dining room in this wing, which she had learned was Voldemort's private wing. Kessy had revealed that yes, Voldemort was actually quite the regular in his routine. Valerie chalked it up to being old.

So on the Tuesday that was ten days after her initial capture by Death Eaters, Valerie joined Voldemort for breakfast at six o'clock in the morning.

His left eye twitched as she sat down to his right and cheerfully said, "Good morning, Voldemort!"

"What are you doing here?" he nearly growled.

Valerie helped herself to a scone, spreading a liberal amount of jam on it.

"Eating breakfast, of course. You certainly are grumpy before you have your first cuppa, aren't you?"

"Are you always this cheerful?" he growled.

"Not a morning person, then?" Valerie asked, nodding sagely as she took a bite of her scone. "I can understand that. Ron used to be terrible in the mornings. I've always gotten up early, a by-product of being forced to cook breakfast every morning from age four to eleven."

"Your miserable excuse for relatives?" Voldemort asked.

After practically living on each other's minds for four years, the pair knew quite a bit about each other, but they had an unspoken agreement not to use the personal information they'd seen against each other, mainly so that their own personal information was not revealed. Therefore, Voldemort knew all about Valerie's cupboard, and her abusive treatment at the hands of the Dursleys, and the fact that she was terrified of bulldogs due to Marge Dursley's dog, Ripper. Valerie knew about the abuse Tom Riddle had suffered at the hands of his Muggle caretakers, the exorcism he had been forced through by the Catholic Church, and the fact that he was rigid about his mealtimes due to his not being fed often as a child. The both remained respectfully silent about these things most of the time.

"Of course," Valerie replied. "I didn't figure out which breakfast foods I was partial to until I got to Hogwarts. And I still refuse to eat burnt toast on principle."

"I refuse to eat weak porridge," Voldemort noted, "for much the same reason."

Valerie nodded in understanding, and they sat in companionable silence for the next several minutes as they ate.

Finally, Valerie asked, "What are you planning to do about my pregnancy?"

"I assume you mean in terms of you giving birth?" Voldemort asked.

Valerie nodded.

"The house-elf I assigned you, Kessy, was trained as a midwife. I am fully capable of the spells to keep an eye on the baby, and I have already ordered the potions necessary for pre-natal care, post-natal care, as well as the potions for the birth itself. We must hope that a Caesarean-section is not required, as that would require me to attend myself, and that would be…messy."

Valerie could feel the disgust and slight panic he was feeling.

"Merlin, is the Dark Lord of the century scared of watching his archenemy give birth?" Valerie asked in slight glee.

Voldemort glared at her.

"I am not scared."

"You're certainly not willing to be there if you don't have to," Valerie taunted.

"Because I am busy!"

"Yeah right."

Voldemort glared at her.

"I will prove to you that I am not scared of childbirth!"

"So you'll be there when I'm giving birth?" Valerie asked innocently.

"Of course!"

They held each other's gazes for another minute, Valerie challenging, Voldemort glaring, before Valerie started snickering.

Voldemort blinked twice, then groaned, burying his head in his hands.

"You insufferable brat," he said, his voice muffled by his hands. "Why did I ever swear not to kill you?"

"Lapse of judgment," Valerie said promptly. "And you actually have morals, apparently. That was a shock, by the way."

"The next several months are going to try my patience, aren't they?" the Dark Lord asked.

"If your patience isn't being tried already, then I'm not doing my job well enough!" Valerie quipped.

Voldemort groaned once more.

Thus began the extremely odd friendship between Lord Voldemort, the greatest and most terrifying Dark Lord of all time, and Valerie Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived, Chosen One, and Prophesied Savior of the Wizarding World.

LINEBREAK

"Tom?"

"Don't call me that. What do you want?"

"I started thinking yesterday, and I came to a conclusion," Valerie said.

Voldemort finally looked up from his paperwork to see her looking at him with big green puppy-dog eyes.

"What sort of conclusion did you come to?" he asked, slightly suspicious.

"I came to the conclusion that I want you to be the twins' godfather."

Voldemort stared at her in shock. She had to be joking. He tentatively felt at their link. She was completely serious.

"You want the man who killed your parents and has attempted to kill you numerous times to be the godfather to your unborn, very fragile twin children. Are you out of your mind?"

"Yes. It was bound to happen, after having a mental link to a madman since toddlerhood. Your sanity, or lack thereof, isn't even questioned anymore. So will you?" she asked hopefully.

"Absolutely not. Find someone more suitable, and leave me to my paperwork."

Voldemort heard a sigh as the pregnant woman left the room.

"Tom?"

"Don't call me that. What do you want?"

"Will you be the twins' godfather?"

"No. Go away."

"Tom?"

"Don't call me that. What do you want?"

"Will you be the twins' godfather?"

"No. Go back to your book."

"Tom?"

"Don't call me that. What do you want?"

"Will you be the twins' godfather?"

"No. Finish your dinner without any more insane requests."

"Tom?"

"What?"

"Will you –"

"No. Go away."

"Tom?"

"What?"

"Will you be the twins' godfather?"

"No. Stop asking."

Valerie Potter knocked on the doorframe to his office before stepping in and asking, "Tom?"

Voldemort banged his fists against his desk.

"For Salazar's sake, woman! What do I have to do to make you stop asking?"

She stared at him blankly.

"Say yes, of course."

Voldemort resisted the urge to groan, but snapped out, "Fine! I'll do it! Now stop asking!"

Valerie smiled, but it was more of an accomplished smirk.

"I'm surprised you held out that long. Everyone else has given into my begging once a day within three weeks. You lasted three times a day for the past seven months! I have a great res-"

Valerie froze, her hands flying to her bulging stomach.

Voldemort also froze.

"Please tell me you did not just go into labor," he said.

"I didn't just go into labor?" Valerie said weakly.

"You're in labor?"

"Pretty sure of it."

Voldemort sighed.

"Kessy!" he called.

The house-elf appeared.

"What does Master need from Kessy?" she squeaked.

"Valerie has just gone into labor. Please escort her back to her bedroom and prepare everything that needs to be ready for her to give birth to the twins," he said calmly, not betraying the panic he was feeling about his new-found – _friend_ – giving birth. He knew how dangerous it could be.

"Tom?" Valerie said before she left the office.

"Yes?"

"I'm not going to die like your mother did. Don't worry, you won't end up having to raise the two children of a Gryffindor," she teased lightly before leaving the room.

"You and I both know that the Hat wanted you in Slytherin, Potter,' Voldemort called after her as she waddled down the hall.

"Yes, but I'm the daughter of one Marauder, the goddaughter of another, and the honorary goddaughter of a third. Mischief's in my blood, and theirs too. You'd never survive. Besides, family pride and all. All the Potters have been in Gryffindor," she called back.

"Do you doubt my ability to corrupt your children? I am sure that they will be Slytherins. In fact, I'd bet on it," he replied.

"Hundred galleons says you're wrong."

"You're on."

Two days later, Valerie was still in labor.

"I understand now why most women swear their partners are never having sex again during this. This has been extremely painful during the breaks in the potions," Valerie grunted.

"Are you going to start cussing out your partner?" Voldemort asked interestedly. He had been trying to get the name of the twins' father for six months now, but the Girl Savior was not talking. She had admitted that he was a wizard with two magical parents, so her children would be first-generation purebloods, but that was the most information she'd revealed.

"No. I certainly don't like him very much at the moment though," she replied.

"Missy Valerie is ready to start pushing," Kessy exclaimed. "Push, Missy Valerie, push!"

Twenty minutes later, Valerie was holding two small bundles, one with blonde hair and green eyes and the other with black hair and grey eyes.

"Lord Voldemort," Valerie said formally, "I would like to introduce you to Thomas Cedric Braxton Hart and Lucinda Sara Luna Hart."

Voldemort eyes widened slightly in shock.

"You named your son after me?"

Valerie shrugged.

"You've been an invaluable help. It's only fitting. I'm planning on calling him 'Brax' though. It would get too confusing to have two Toms around. I've decided on my name, anyway."

"Oh?"

"Holly Faith Hart. Holly for my wand. Faith that this will work out. Hart because my father's Animagus form was a stag. Once my kids are old enough for daycare, I'd like to start working as a kindergarten teacher, but I don't want to do that until they're at least a year old, maybe even two. I want to spend as much time with them as possible," the newly-christened Holly said.

Voldemort looked at her steadily.

"You believe that they will leave you once they learn of magic?"

"We'll grow apart. I've seen it happen with too many Muggleborns and their families. Their Muggle families simply can't relate to the amazing world that they live in, so they stop confiding in them, stop telling them things, and eventually, they're no more than casual acquaintances who happen to share blood," Holly said sadly.

A single tear trickled down her face.

"That will not happen with you and your children, Valerie Potter," Voldemort said firmly. "Because you are not the kind of woman to let that happen. Your children will love you until the end of time, simply because that's the kind of woman you are!"

She smiled gently at him.

"Aw, Tom, I didn't know you cared."

He huffed.

"I don't. I'm simply trying to spare myself the headache your raging hormones are bound to give me."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" she teased.

"I have to ask…did you give Lucinda the middle name 'Sara' simply so you could have _Little Lord Fauntleroy_ 's Cedric Errol and _A Little Princess_ 's Sara Crewe?"

"Yes. I always loved those stories. Anyway, you've been up for two days. Go sleep. The Death Eaters can wait another day, and Kessy and the other house-elves will keep an eye on the twins and me. We're fine. Go to bed," the rechristened Holly ordered.

Voldemort was too tired to protest.

LINEBREAK

A month later, Voldemort deemed Holly and the twins well enough to move into their own house. It was a four bedroom house near Bristol, in an eclectic neighborhood that bore no resemblance to the Privet Drive of her youth. The neighbors were friendly and more than willing to help out the young widow and her two infant children who had just moved into Number 17, Jupiter Way.

"You poor dear!" Mrs. Nida Rajpar, of Number 15, cooed. "So young, and to have already lost your husband!"

"I do miss him," Holly admitted with a said smile. "James was such a kind man. We were sweethearts in school, and he proposed to me the day we graduated. We were so happy together, until the car accident took him from me. He left me quite a bit of money, though, so I doubt I'll have a problem caring for Brax and Lucy."

"Well, if you ever need anything – a babysitter, or if you just want to come over for a meal, or some adult company – you feel free, alright, dearie?"

"Yes, ma'am," Holly said bashfully.

"Is there anyone else looking out for you?" Mrs. Charlotte Johnson, of Number 16, asked.

"James' best friend, Tom, is the twins' godfather, and he's promised to check in on me as often as he can; at least once a month, once a week if he can manage it. My parents died when I was a baby, and James' died in the same car accident that killed him, so I'm all alone on that front, I'm afraid," Holly said.

"Well, I agree with Nida," Mrs. Johnson proclaimed. "If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask. Mike and Henry, who live at Number 13, run a clinic, and Henry's sister Jessica is their pediatrician. Everyone thinks they're excellent, so don't hesitate to call them if your little darlings get sick."

"Thank you for the advice, Mrs. Johnson," Holly said dutifully.

"Oh please, dear, call me Lottie! Everyone else does," the tiny blonde woman exclaimed.

"As you wish, Lottie," Holly said with a smile. "Now if you'll all excuse me, I have some boxes I should finish unpacking while the babies are still asleep."

There were several cheerful goodbyes as Holly retreated into her house. She paused at the mirror to examine her shoulder-length blonde hair and grey-blue eyes, a far cry different than her natural black hair with auburn highlights and bright green eyes. Her face was similar to Valerie Potter's, but anyone who saw her would think she was simply a relative, not Valerie Potter herself. The glamour she wore toned down the natural beauty she had inherited from her parents and made her look more like her Aunt Petunia than anyone else, much to her dismay. She broke the similarity by smiling widely and often.

She sighed as she heard a baby start crying, soon joined by the other. It would be a long few years, though the happy moments far outclassed the sad ones.

LINEBREAK

"UNCLE TOM!" Lucy yelled as soon as the dark-haired man stepped through the door. The six year old launched herself at him as soon as he had placed his hat and coat on the rack. The tall man caught her, and Holly laughed at the expression on his face. He probably thought there was accidental magic involved.

"Before you ask, every kindergartener I know can do the same thing, no matter whether the adult is four foot six or six foot ten," Holly told him as she finished drying the pan she was holding.

"That's a relief," Tom said with a smile. He kissed Lucy's forehead. "Hello, Lucy-loo-loo. How's my favorite princess doing today?"

The girl gave him a bright smile and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Better now that you're here, Uncle Tom."

The Dark Lord in disguise laughed.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, little princess."

"How long are you staying?" Holly asked.

"Barring any unforeseen difficulties, my underlings think that I'm in Belize for the next ten days," he said with a smile.

"TEN DAYS! MUMMY, UNCLE TOM'S STAYING FOR TEN DAYS!" Lucy shrieked at the high pitch that only six-year-old girls could manage.

Both Holly and Tom winced.

"Inside voice, Lucy," Holly said. "Brax! Come greet your Uncle Tom!"

Tom set Lucy down just in time for Brax to attempt to knock him over by hitting the back of his legs with his head.

"Hello, little lord," Tom greeted, half-twisting in order to sweep Brax into his arms as well. "You've grown taller."

"You're staying for ten days, Uncle Tom?" the boy asked excitedly.

"I believe so," Tom said with a small smile.

Brax let out a delighted laugh and hugged his godfather tightly. A moment later, Lucy joined the hug.

Holly smiled as she watched her former archenemy and her children in their affectionate embrace. To think, they would soon be leaving her.

LINEBREAK

"Mum! MUM!" Brax yelled from the entry hall. "Someone's sent Lucy and I letters! They're some sort of weird paper though; it's really thick and sort of yellow! And the address is really specific! Mine says, 'Mr. T. Hart, Back-Right Bedroom, Number 17 Jupiter Way, Bristol!' Isn't that weird, Mum?"

Holly closed her eyes and sighed silently, but opened them and plastered a confused and slightly alarmed look on her face before Brax entered the room with the letters.

"Have you opened it yet, Brax?" she asked urgently.

"No, Mum," the boy replied, confused.

"We have to be careful. It could be poisoned," Holly pointed out. She knew, of course, that the letters were not poisoned, but Tom had told her about Muggleborn parents who had refused to open any Hogwarts letters due to their specific nature. They had apparently been concerned with the anthrax mailings over in America. It seemed to be a reasonable enough excuse.

Lucy chose that moment to float into the kitchen. Somehow, at age eleven, she had managed a grace and silence in her movements that Holly had only achieved through two years of espionage training.

"What's this about letters?" she asked.

"Someone's sent you and I letters," Brax said. "Yours says 'Miss L. Hart', mine says 'Mr. T. Hart'. I suppose they don't know that I go by my middle name."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Stay here and don't open those letters," Holly said sternly to her children before marching to the door. She already knew who it was; she and Voldemort had spent six weeks debating through their charmed notebooks on who to send. She flung the door open.

"May I help you?" she asked with an air of false politeness.

"Mrs. Hart, I presume?" the dark-skinned man asked with a charming smile.

"Ms. Hart, actually," Holly replied. "And you are?"

"My apologies. My name is Professor Blaise Zabini. Your children, Thomas and Lucinda, just received letters from my school, Hogwarts."

"Is that where the letters were from? I told them not to open them; I find it highly unusual that a school researches its prospective students well enough to know which bedrooms the students sleep in," Holly said icily.

This was all part of a carefully planned act that she and Voldemort had devised. They had gone over the usual reactions of Muggleborn parents, as well as certain objections she could throw in there to suit her personality, which was, as Voldemort had pointed out, that of a snarling lioness protecting her cubs. Holly had hexed his hair pink for a week before grudgingly agreeing.

"May I come in, Ms. Hart? I'm afraid what I have to say is rather sensitive information," Zabini tried to say.

"Why should I let you anywhere near my children?" Holly challenged, wishing she was taller in order to better intimidate the wizard on her doorstep. Her five foot four height was nothing compared to Zabini's six feet.

"Ms. Hart, I promise you that I am no threat to your children. I am a professor at a school for the gifted, and your children fit our qualifications," he said. "Please, this meeting could determine your children's future."

Holly gave him an apprising stare, before slowly allowing him into the house.

"Before we go any further, you should know that I am a black belt in five forms of martial arts, and I'm the National Champion at knife throwing," Holly said pleasantly as she led her former classmate into the parlor, the most proper room in their eclectic house. She smirked slightly at the barely audible sound of Blaise's gulp.

She saw Blaise looking around the parlor. Everything was clean, of course; the OCD Holly had developed as a child had never truly gone away, and it only got worse when she was stressed. Her children's upcoming departure for Hogwarts was definitely causing her stress. There were family pictures along the mantel while other artwork dotted the walls, mainly done by Nida Rajpur next door. While not a famous artist, the woman was very good at what she did.

"Brax, Lucy, please come to the parlor and bring those letters with you," Holly called.

Her children hurried into the room a moment later, letters clutched tightly in their hands.

"Brax, Lucy, this is Professor Zabini from Hogwarts, the school that sent you those letters," Holly introduced. "Professor Zabini, these are my children, Braxton and Lucy Hart."

"A pleasure to meet you," the children chorused before seating themselves.

Blaise smiled pleasantly.

"I assure you, the pleasure is mine. Now, may I recommend that you open your letters now?"

There was a ripping of parchment from where Brax was sitting, while only the sound of wax being removed from parchment came from Lucy's.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Brax asked in awe.

Holly allowed shock to show on her face.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Lucy asked Blaise.

"No joke, Miss Hart, I assure you," Blaise said.

Holly leaned over Lucy's shoulder in order to read the letter.

The familiar image of the Hogwarts crest was at the top of the letter, with the motto just under it. Aside from the Headmaster's name, there were few differences to her own letter, twenty years before.

 _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

 _Headmaster: Marvolo Slytherin_

 _(Dark Lord Voldemort, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin, Emperor of the Wizarding World, Defense Professor)_

 _Dear Miss Hart,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your reply no later than July 31._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Severus Snape_

 _Deputy Headmaster_

 _Potions Professor_

Holly looked up at Blaise.

"What subject do you teach, Professor Zabini?"

"I am the Charms Professor," he replied. "Charms is the most versatile subject at Hogwarts. With Charms, students can make objects fly, change colors, produce light, and so much more," he replied. His passion for his subject was barely hidden behind his smiling Slytherin mask.

"What other subjects are taught at this school?" she asked, her voice still somewhat sharp.

"Our first year mundane-raised students take nine subjects: Charms, Ancient Runes, Defense, Flying, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, Transfiguration, and Wizarding Studies. Magically-raised students take Mundane Studies instead of Wizarding Studies. Flying class is only offered during first year. Starting in third year, students have the option to take other elective courses, such as Arithmancy, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, the Dark Arts, and Ritual Magic. Etiquette is a required course for third year and up. Sixth and seventh years who are advanced enough in the prerequisite courses can take Alchemy, Duelling, and Healing, though the first is rare. The Alchemy Professor usually only has two classes, one for sixth years and one for seventh years," Blaise explained.

"And what do each of these classes entail?" Holly asked.

She noticed Blaise's tense look and inwardly smirked. He would not enjoy the next few hours.

Seven hours later, Blaise had exhaustively described each subject at Hogwarts, each professor and staff member, the school layout, and the grounds. He had also covered the Wizarding government in depth, including but not limited to the Ministry, Lord Voldemort, and the Wizengamot, which had led to detailed descriptions of the Ancient and Noble Houses as well as the different Departments in the Ministry. From there, Holly had moved on to magical creatures, then magical plants, and then the infrastructure of the Wizarding World. They covered transportation, agriculture, culture, and economics. At the two hour mark, Holly had offered lunch, and she had served tea at the five hour mark. By the time she was done, Blaise Zabini was trying and failing to hide exhaustion.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Professor Zabini," Holly said cheerfully. "I am sure that Brax and Lucy will love Hogwarts. You said that you would come back tomorrow to escort us to get the twins' school supplies?"

She saw him try to resist a shudder.

"Ah, I'm afraid I have an appointment tomorrow that I may not be able to get out of, but rest assured, I will make sure that one of the professors comes to take you to Diagon Alley," he lied. "Have a pleasant evening."

"And you!" Holly said cheerfully, shutting the door behind him as he hurried out of the house.

That night, there was a new message in the charmed notebook that Voldemort used to communicate with her.

" _You broke my Charms Professor,"_ he wrote. _"He's refusing to return to your house under any circumstances. What did you do?"_

" _Seven hours of questions about the Wizarding World. Now I have reasons for any knowledge I might have, though I'll be buying books tomorrow to cover the rest of it. Who do I get to tor- I mean, travel with, tomorrow?"_ she asked.

" _Wait and see,"_ he replied.

She chuckled and went to bed.

September 1 came sooner than she expected. She walked through King's Cross Station with the twins, both of their trunks stacked on the trolley in front of her, both chattering animatedly about their upcoming 'adventure'. Each held a cage holding a snowy owl: twins, which was apparently even more a rarity in owls than in humans. Voldemort had told her that the twin owls were actually the great-grandchildren of Valerie's beloved Hedwig, who had ended up living with Voldemort for the rest of her natural life after Valerie's disappearance.

"What's the platform number again?" Holly asked, remembering a red-haired woman asking the same question her own first year.

"Nine and Three-Quarters," Brax said.

"Professor Zabini said that we simply walk through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten. We haven't even started yet, and there's already magic!" Lucy said excitedly.

Holly smiled at her children's antics, watching as they held hands to step through the barrier. She did not have to run as they did, knowing full well that she would make it through to the other side.

Before her stood the familiar scarlet engine that had faithfully borne her to Hogwarts those many years ago. She sighed wistfully, glad that it was muffled in the hustle and bustle of parents saying goodbye to their children.

Soon enough, her children were tugging at her, and she was helping them load their trunks onto the train. Before they could leave, Holly pulled them both into a tight embrace.

"No matter what happens at this magic school of yours," she whispered to them, "I will always be your mother and I will always love you. Nothing can change that. Yes, I will worry about you, and yes, you will probably scare me at some point, but that doesn't mean I don't want to know. I love you and I want to know that you're doing well. I want to know the ups and the downs, the twists and the turns, and everything else that happens in your lives. I expect letters at least once a week, and I always want you to remember that I love you very much."

She kissed each of them on the forehead, resting a hand on Lucy's cheek and smoothing back Brax's hair.

"We love you too, Mum," they said in unison. Each kissed one of her cheeks.

Just then, the whistle on the train blew.

"We'll see you at Christmas, Mum!" Brax yelled as they got onto the train.

"Goodbye!" Lucy yelled as well, waving merrily from the window of their compartment.

"Goodbye!" Holly called back, raising her hand in farewell.

She ran alongside the train until it reached the end of the platform, and continued waving until the train was out of sight. With a sigh, she put her hands down.

From behind her, a familiar voice said, "It's hard, isn't it?"

"Of course it is," Holly replied. "They're my children."

Tom stepped up beside her, looking off into the distance towards the last place the Hogwarts Express was seen.

"I'll protect them," he stated.

"You'd better," Holly replied, a hint of the war general she'd once been in her voice. "Else I get my magic back, and you're my first target after rescuing them."

"I shudder at the thought," Tom replied.

They stood there in silence for a moment.

"Do you want to go drown our sorrows in ice cream?" he asked.

She gave him a sideways glance.

"Don't you have a school to run? And what sorrows do you have?"

"They won't arrive for a few hours yet, and their arrival is my sorrow. So, ice cream?"

Holly thought a moment.

"Sure."

That night, the notebook had a new message.

" _I owe you a hundred galleons."_

Valerie laughed before going to sleep.

 **Author's Note Two: If you don't understand the last few lines, go back to when Valerie is giving birth. :) Also, as to Valerie's name, I did not want to name her after a flower, because while it makes sense based on all the flower names in the books (Lily, Petunia, Pansy, Lavender, etc.) it is very overused. Valerie comes from the Latin _valere_ , which means "to be strong". Harry/Valerie is an incredibly strong person, and I feel that James and Lily would have wanted their child to be strong, especially with such a prophecy hanging over them. As to Valerie, Voldemort, and the Prophecy...they're basically just ignoring. They swore an oath not to hurt each other, so they're circumventing the _"neither can live while the other survives_ " bit by both living instead of just surviving through a war.**


	2. The Kidnapping

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **Author's Note: Several people, most prominently my sister, have asked for a sequel to the original one-shot. I've had most of this written for a while, but I only just found a good place to end this bit. This story is now at least three chapters, if not longer. I know where I'm going with it, I just don't know how I'm getting there. Also, I have updated the last chapter. Most differences are in editing, but I did add to the ending.**

 **WARNINGS: This chapter bumped the rating on this up. There are three non-explicit mentions of rape. There is minor cursing. There are mentions of torture. Rape is mentioned as a torture method. Previous sexual harassment is implied.**

Holly had just finished piecing together the craft her kindergarteners were going to make when someone knocked on the door.

"Just a moment!" she called, moving into the bathroom to wash the glue and glitter off her hands.

She opened the door and had to hide her shock at the sight of Severus Snape, dressed pristinely in a mundane suit and tie.

"May I help you?" she asked, struggling to stay cheerful.

"Are you Holly Hart?" he asked.

"Indeed I am. You are?"

"Ms. Hart, I am Severus Snape…"

"What's happened to Brax and Lucy?" she cut in, her voice cold and fierce.

Unlike most, Snape appeared unaffected by her ferocity.

"Young Miss Hart was kidnapped by the rebel forces that plague our world. They are usually non-violent, but they took Miss Hart due to her closeness with our Headmaster, the Dark Lord Voldemort. He has taken Miss Hart as a protégée of sorts, and the rebels sought to either harm the Dark Lord or gain information by capturing her," Snape explained.

Holly took a deep breath to avoid exploding.

"Why don't you come in, Professor?" she offered. "I need to grab a few things and make a call, and then I will accompany you to Hogwarts."

"Mundanes aren't allowed…" Snape began, but Holly cut him off.

"My daughter has been kidnapped, Professor," she said sharply. "I will stay with my son until his sister is found." Her tone brooked no argument.

She swept out of the room and into the hallway. With a flick of her wrist, her wand was released from its permanent home in her forearm holster. She waved it with her right hand, Summoning her emergency bag, while dialing her boss's number with her left.

"Hello, Headmaster Wright…This is Holly Hart. Something's happened to my daughter, so I need to go to the twins' school up in Scotland. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but my lesson plans for the next two months are in my desk….The school is rather isolated, so I doubt you'll be able to contact me. Thank you for understanding...I'll see you sometime."

By the time her call was done, she had checked and repacked her emergency bag, picked it up, and sheathed her wand. She returned to the parlor and said, "I'm ready to go."

Snape stood and offered her a piece of yarn.

"This is a Portkey. Hold onto it, and it will transport us to our destination: the Headmaster's office."

Holly grabbed her end of the yarn.

Snape looked her in the eye and stated, "Princess".

The world swirled around them, and suddenly they were in the Headmaster's office. Holly landed in a kneeling position, as she usually did. It was the only way she had found that would keep her from falling on her face.

The room was full of people, most of whom Holly recognized, and all of them turned to stare at their arrival. Holly only had eyes for the red-eyed man at the back of the room, behind a wide ebony desk.

The office was similar to Dumbledore's – it had the same bookshelves and portraits of the former Heads – but the numerous silver knick-knacks had been replaced with various elaborate gifts and Dark artifacts. There was one heavily warded cabinet with darkened glass and a magical lock, but Holly could faintly make out a silver trimmed picture that Brax and Lucy had given Tom for Christmas almost a decade before.

Holly rose gracefully to her feet and stalked to the front of the room. Everyone moved out of her way, somehow sensing her anger would not be deterred, and unwilling to stand between her and her target.

She placed her hands on the ebony wood and leaned over the desk. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes were cold and promised death.

"Tell me, Headmaster," she asked, nearly purring. "Why has my daughter gone missing while under your care?"

Voldemort winced almost imperceptibly.

"Holly…"

"HOW COULD YOU ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN, YOU SNAKE-FACED SON OF A SQUIB?! I TRUSTED you to protect them! I gave up EVERYTHING to protect them, and you allowed my daughter to be KIDNAPPED by imbecilic Gryffindors while under your protection! How could you?" she cried out.

She could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks, but she was still too furious to feel upset.

Her voice turned frosty as she adopted a more formal tone.

"Thomas Marvolo Riddle, also known as the Dark Lord Voldemort, now known as Marvolo Slytherin: have you kept your oath? Have you protected my children as you swore you would?" she asked.

He sighed.

"I have not," he intoned.

"Can you hold me to my oath, when you have broken yours?" she asked.

"I cannot," Voldemort replied. He flicked his fingers and a silencing barrier went up around them. He took her right hand in his. "Valerie Lillian Potter-Black, Lady of the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Potter and Black, now known as Holly Faith Hart," – He flicked his fingers again, bringing the silencing ward down – "I release you from your oath."

Three golden threads appeared around their clasped hands. One unwound itself and faded away.

Voldemort huffed.

"Now that we've finished that, can we skip the part where you curse me into oblivion and move on to the point where we find your daughter?"

Holly thought a moment.

"We can _postpone_ the part where I curse you into oblivion until after Lucy is safe with me," she relented.

Voldemort nodded and gestured to the chair at his right. Holly took it with grace, her eyes darting around the room, assessing everyone in sight with the precision she had never lost after being a war general. She recognized Snape, all three Malfoys, Rabastan Lestrange – she'd taken care of Bellatrix and Rodolphus herself – Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, both sets of Carrow twins, Marcus Flint, Pansy Parkinson, Adrian Pucey, and Daphne Greengrass.

"My lord?" Flint asked. "Who's she?"

"This is Ms. Holly Hart, Lucinda and Braxton Hart's mother," Voldemort introduced.

"I thought they were mundane-born," Blaise said. "In fact, I distinctly remember a seven-hour interrogation on everything in the Wizarding World."

Holly shrugged apathetically.

"I needed an excuse as to why I knew so much about the Wizarding World," she said.

"But why keep your magic hidden? Do your children even know?" Snape asked, pinpointing the heart of the conversation, as usual.

"They do not," Holly said.

"Then why?" Snape persisted.

Holly looked to Voldemort for help.

"Miss Hart was a former Resistance fighter who was captured by the Dark Order," Voldemort explained. "In our routine scans, it was discovered that she was pregnant. I offered her a deal: renounce magic and change her identity, as well as swearing not to fight me or mine, and I would let her leave with her child."

"I accepted, on the grounds that he swore to protect my children since I couldn't. Lucy's kidnapping allows me my magic and my name back."

"How can we trust her, if she's former Resistance?" Theodore Nott said.

"My wife is former Resistance," Blaise said coolly. "Are you questioning her loyalties, Theodore?"

"Of course not," Theodore replied. "I'm questioning those of the person we've never met!"

"I am well-acquainted with Ms. Hart, and I fully vouch for her loyalties," Voldemort said. "Are you questioning me, Mr. Nott?"

"Of course not, my Lord," he said hurriedly.

"I swore an oath on my life and magic," Holly reminded them. "Besides, I was never a member of a Resistance. I was in the Order of the Phoenix."

Lucius' mouth dropped open.

"That's even worse!" Pansy Parkinson exclaimed.

Holly waved her hand lazily.

"Not the issue now, Parkinson…or whatever your last name is now. I've proven my loyalty to the Dark Lord; I've done missions for the Dark Order, and I have passed along information about the Order of the Phoenix…I'm an idiot. What do your spies know about Lucy?"

Voldemort looked towards Snape.

"She was kidnapped in order to hurt the Dark Lord. They are not planning to kill or torture her, nor will they use Legilimency against her. The only Order members capable of it were myself, Dumbledore, Potter, and Granger. I won't do it, Dumbledore and Potter are dead, and Granger hasn't liked the Resistance since Potter died and Lovegood left. The only reason she's still with the Resistance is Potter's death. No one's seen her in weeks, though."

"She's currently in my dungeons," Voldemort said nonchalantly.

Holly forced herself to ignore it.

"Any idea on location?" she asked.

Snape's lip curled.

"Unfortunately, they decided that she was a high enough security prisoner that she was taken to the old Order Headquarters. It was mostly abandoned after Potter's death, since no new members could be allowed in, but the death of the Secret Keeper prevents us from getting in. Unlike Dumbledore, Potter never wrote it down. Everyone was told verbally. Can you get in?" he asked Holly.

She nodded, not seeing the need to elaborate.

"That means three of you can currently enter," Voldemort noted.

Holly's brow furrowed.

"Who's the third?"

At that moment, the door opened, and a dreamy blonde floated in. She pressed a quick kiss to Blaise's cheek then flew over to Holly, wrapping her in a hug.

Holly laughed and wrapped her arms around the blonde.

"I missed you too, Luna. I'd forgotten you were here."

"As soon as the nargles told me you were here, I finished feeding the thestrals and came up," she replied.

"Is your husband treating you well?" Holly asked, smiling warmly at her friend while levelling a death glare at Blaise, who gulped.

Luna Lovegood-Zabini hummed.

"We're very happy," she confirmed. "Our twins, Helios and Selene, are in their third year, while our youngest, Alessandra, is in her first. I was very sorry to hear about Sara. She and Cedric are two of my favorite students. They are quite good in Care. Since you're back now, are we going to go hunting soon? I always did enjoy our hunts."

Holly's smile was positively feral, despite the apparent non sequitur.

"What a marvelous idea, Luna. We simply need to fetch our final piece from Voldemort's dungeons, and we can go hunting scorched chickens."

"Exactly. And that means you wouldn't have to ask for your necklace back."

Holly froze, then sighed ruefully.

"Of course you know about that. Do you still have yours?"

"I wear it every day," Luna said, pulling out a necklace of a white phoenix from under her robes. It had scarlet eyes, and the feathers were edged in black.

"Order of the Phoenix necklaces?" Voldemort asked, intrigued.

"We didn't like the idea of branding our compatriots, so we handed out necklaces instead," Holly snarked. "They were charmed to only be worn if they were freely given. They were the keys through certain words, and sometimes certain doors. I knew of at least a hundred passageways in Hogwarts that could only be opened by a pendant."

"They're still there," Luna mentioned. "That was how the Order managed to hide so well during the Second Battle of Hogwarts. They were using the tunnels to get around. I cleared them out during the battle, and I have charms up to let me know if anyone uses them."

Voldemort twitched a nonexistent eyebrow.

"And why did neither of you mention these before now?"

"You didn't ask," the women said in unison.

"What happened to your necklace?" Narcissa Malfoy asked. "Since Luna said you need to ask for it back."

Holly tensed at the question.

"I gave it to someone I cared very much for, many years ago," she said quietly. "I was afraid that he would be hurt if our relationship was discovered. I was a known Order member; I was wanted by the Death Eaters. I gave him my necklace and told him the password to the portkey. The last time I saw him, we argued rather fiercely, and I stormed out before either of us said anything about the necklace. I was captured three days later and declared dead a week after that. I can only assume he still has it somewhere, though it's quite possible he threw it out."

"You said you were a known Order member," Adrian Pucey sad. "You said you gave up your name, but you can take it back now. What is it? Do we know you? What is your name?"

Holly smiled ruefully, and held both of her hands above the table, revealing the silver and gold braided ring on her right hand. She twisted it back and forth with her other hand.

"You do know me. In fact, I have met most of you personally and killed several of your relatives."

"An Order member who kills?" Rabastan scoffed. "Are you sure you knew Dumbledore?"

"Which is why we didn't tell him when we were planning to kill people off," Luna said idly. "We disguised ourselves and used a time-turner to make it so we were never missing."

"Yes, we were quite feared among your ranks, or so Lord Voldemort told me," Holly said with a smile. "Three assassins, in hooded cloaks with daggers at their waists. Each wearing a different color, red, black, and white."

"The Morrígan," Narcissa Malfoy breathed in elated horror.

"Indeed," Holly smirked. "You knew me then as Badb. Luna here was Macha. But the name you knew me best by was…" she began, visibly removing the ring from her finger. Her appearance shimmered as the bones in her face moved, giving her the sharp, elegant features shared by many purebloods. Her blonde hair lengthened into silky black tresses with dark red highlights while her grey-blue eyes transformed into luminous jewels the same shade of green as the Killing Curse.

"Valerie Potter," Lucius said, sounding resigned.

"I'd wondered if you were one of the Morrígan," Voldemort said idly. "Your fighting style was familiar. Now that you've revealed your identity, can you tell us the Secret to the Order's Headquarters?"

"Actually, I can't," Holly said. "In order to prevent my revealing the Secret under duress or Legilimency attack, we managed to alter the spell to add conditions for revealing the Secret. I have to reveal it verbally, and I have to be holding my phoenix necklace."

"The necklace you no longer have," Voldemort sighed. "How did you share the Secret if you didn't have the necklace?"

"I asked for it back," Holly shrugged. "The person I gave it to assumed that I was supposed to wear it to certain Order meetings, and the Order knew I usually didn't wear that necklace. It had other enchantments attacked to it, things that would be dangerous if they were in enemy hands. I had another necklace, a basic one, for a while, but I eventually had a tattoo done that functioned as one of the regular pendants."

"Several of us had one," Luna nodded. "Valerie's looked like Fawkes, but the rest of us got black and red phoenixes with bright green eyes. We wanted to remember who we were fighting for."

"But that's over now," Holly said with an air of finality. "I couldn't care less about the remnants of the vaunted Order, except for the fact they _**kidnapped my daughter**_."

Her harsh tone brought them back to the matter at hand.

"What can you tell us about the Order headquarters?"" Voldemort asked.

"I can't be specific, but I can answer indirect questions," Holly revealed. "I own the property. It's a pureblood townhouse that I inherited after the Battle in the Department of Mysteries in 1995. I can probably draw a map of the layout and still be within the Charm's restrictions."

"Sirius Black died in that Battle, did he not?" Voldemort asked shrewdly.

"He did," Holly nodded, smirking slightly.

"Sirius Black was your godfather?" he asked.

"Indeed," Holly said.

"The Black family townhouse," Narcissa gasped. Her surprise quickly turned to anger. "Those filthy blood-traitors dared to use the house of my forefathers for a meeting-place!" she fumed.

Holly winced slightly at the screech.

"Careful, Lady Malfoy, for you are beginning to emulate your aunt," she chided. "Her portrait yelled the same things at us every time we entered the house. I eventually developed a runic silencing barrier, just to keep her quiet. However, it deteriorated every year or so, so the Order is probably suffering."

"Aunt Walburga always did have a good set of lungs on her, didn't she?" Narcissa mused.

Voldemort winced.

"There was one time in school when a bunch of seventh-years were bullying Alphard. She started in on them and they fell to pieces. Then she took her wand out."

"That blasted house-elf of yours is still around," Snape noted. "He won't listen to anyone but Granger, oddly enough, and sometimes the Lupin boy and his grandmother."

"Now that is helpful information," Holly said. "Before we go any further, I need to know exactly how Lucy was kidnapped."

"We don't entirely know yet," Draco said, speaking up for the first time. "She had been meeting with different teachers about advanced work. She had seemed so bored in my class that I recommended she sit the OWL at Christmas and do an independent study project for the rest of the year. She liked the idea so much, she said she was going to speak to her other teachers about it."

"We didn't know anything was wrong until Brax came up to the Head Table to say that Lucy never showed up for dinner. They always eat dinner together," Voldemort said.

"I told them to not to let themselves grow apart if they were in different Houses. I recommended they eat dinner together as often as they could," Holly said. "None of the teachers reported seeing Lucy since Malfoy?"

"No," Daphne Greengrass said. "None of us saw her."

"Have they been interrogated yet?" Holly asked, a vicious smirk crossing her lips.

"Not yet," Voldemort replied, a similar smirk on his face.

"Snape can help too," Holly said. "There's sixteen teachers and three of us. That's not very even."

"Do you know any other Legilimens?" Voldemort asked sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Are your dungeons still in the same place?" Holly asked.

"Yes."

"Am I still keyed into the Apparition wards?" she asked.

"Just the entry hall," he replied.

"Great! Round up the other teachers; I'll be right back."

Just to irritate Voldemort, as a small revenge, she Apparated directly out of his office to Voldemort's entry hall. She paused a moment to orient herself in the massive manor before taking off for the dungeons.

It was on the top floor of the dungeons, which was the nicest of the four, that she found her quarry.

"Hermione?" she called to the reading woman. There was a stack of books taller than a house-elf beside her. She did not look up.

"You cannot trick me that easily, Voldemort. I am more than aware that Valerie is dead," she commented, idly turning her page.

"Valerie may be dead, but Badb lives on as Holly Hart. I need Nemain, Hermione," Holly said.

That caused the bookworm to look up. Intelligent brown eyes searched her face, and Holly felt a prod at her Occlumency shields.

Hermione's eyes widened.

"Valerie?"

Holly smiled weakly.

"It's Holly now, but yes."

Hermione waited until Holly had opened the cell door, then threw herself at her friends, hugging her tightly.

Finally, Hermione pulled back and examined her friend's face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, perceptive as always.

"Did you hear any rumors, in the Order, about possibly kidnapping Voldemort's protégée?" Holly asked.

"A few months ago, Weasley brought it up during a meeting, but I shot it down. We don't kidnap children, or we risk our own being held at Hogwarts. Weasley argued that she was a Muggle-born so it didn't matter. I shot him down still. Muggle-born or not, that's still someone's daughter."

"Not just someone's daughter," Holly said. "My daughter."

Hermione froze.

"So that's why you left! You were pregnant!"

"I didn't know it until Voldemort captured me. One of their scans discovered it. Voldemort offered me a deal: I swore not to fight him, and I swore to not reveal my name or magic to anyone, and Voldemort swore to protect me and my children. He broke his vow when Lucy was kidnapped by the Resistance, so I can be myself again."

"So you're here to ask me to switch sides and help you find your daughter?" Hermione deduced.

"We have teachers to interrogate as well, and sixteen just isn't equally divisible by three," Holly added.

"I won't swear myself to Voldemort, but I'm already sworn to you," Hermione said. "Get me my wand and a shower, and I'll be ready."

"You'll also need your Morrígan cloak," Holly said.

"It's still attached to my wand holster," Hermione assured.

It took a few minutes of searching to find Hermione's wand in Voldemort's massive office. Hermione used the time to shower in Holly's former bathroom and change into her Morrígan robes. Holly hurriedly changed into hers as well, knowing that Luna would already be dressed as Macha.

Less than five minutes after her arrival, Holly Apparated herself and Hermione back into the Headmaster's office. Luna was there in her white robes, clasped with a ruby pin carved into the symbol of the Triple Goddess. Stitched on the back of her robes was a black phoenix. Holly's red robes had the same in white, while her robes were clasped with an onyx symbol. Hermione's black robes had red stitching and a pearl clasp.

Voldemort and the Death Eaters were still in the office, which appeared larger than it had been before she left. All the teachers were there as well, and everyone stared as the Morrígan three stood together.

Holly could tell Voldemort was impressed, though he tried to hide it.

"You brought back your pet?" he snarked.

"She's gone toe-to-toe with you before," Holly pointed out. "But she has switched sides. Nemain, Voldemort. Voldemort, Nemain. Have you divided the teachers into groups?"

"We were just waiting on you to begin," the Dark Lord replied. "You have Professors Zabini, Lovegood, and Towler."

The name stirred a memory from her days as co-leader of the Order. Fred and George had brought one of their former roommates, Kenneth Towler, to be inducted to the Order. His task was to be a long-term sleeper agent in Voldemort's forces…

Holly turned quickly to the brown-haired man and met his eyes. It took only seconds to pierces his Occlumency shields. Strong as they were, her anger was stronger.

The first thing she found was a burning hatred for the Dark Order. A moment's digging found the reason why. Kenneth's younger sister, Eva, had been in Valerie's year at Hogwarts, though they didn't know each other well. Eva had usually hung out with Fay Dunbar and Lily Moon, before leaving after OWLs. Her reasons for leaving were evident. Apparently, Eva had been raped by Miles Bletchley, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle during the height of Umbridge's reign. All three offenders had gone on to be Death Eaters.

Holly rifled through until she found Kenneth's Order induction and mission. He had never attended Order or Resistance meetings, but had instead been sent coded communiques detailing his assignments.

The next thing she saw chilled her to the bone. Lucy, her beautiful Lucy, had entered the office, Prefect's badge gleaming on her collar. Towler had greeted her, and then drawn his wand behind his back. As Lucy had chattered animatedly, Towler struck out. He didn't Stun her as Holly expected. No, he Petrified her.

Then, to her horror, he leaned down and snarled in her ear, "This is for my sister, you Death Eater whore."

Holly forced herself to watch the entire, brutal scene, as the man before her heartlessly raped her fifteen-year-old daughter. When it was over, the man spelled her so she could not speak of what had occurred.

Upon delivering her to the Order, he had explained away the damage by saying she had put up a fight. She watched as Towler handed Lucy over to Ron Weasley, who looked at her the same way he used to look at Valerie, the look that had ended their close friendship.

Holly swore to herself to end Ronald Weasley's life in the most painful way possible.

She pulled out of Towler's mind, and her magic lashed out, pinning him to the wall without any input from a wand.

"You vile piece of filth," she hissed, nearly slipping into Parseltongue in her anger. "I swear by the Goddess that your death will be the most painful thing I can imagine. I will bring you as close to death as humanly possible, and then, just when you think you'll receive the sweet release of death, I'll heal you. I'll do it again, and again, bringing you almost to death and back until I feel that you've suffered enough for what you did. Then, I'll hand you over to Voldemort, and he happens to be quite fond of his goddaughter."

"The bitch deserved it," Towler growled, despite the fear in his eyes.

"Deserved it? No one deserves that, except possibly the people who inflict that pain on others. She's a fifteen-year-old girl, the same age your sister was. Your sister killed herself because of the shame and disgust she felt about herself. Others survived and kept going, but that feeling of dirtiness will never go away. You have condemned her to never feel clean again, so I'm going to make sure you never feel anything but pain again!" Holly growled.

A push of her magic, and Towler was screaming and writhing against the wall as her magic forced pain through every nerve ending on his body. A twist of her wrist brought her wand to her hand, and a muttered spell had every bone in his extremities being slowly ground into powder.

Everyone else watched in varying degrees of shock. Voldemort and Luna were the least affected, as they knew her best of those there. Hermione was the next least affected, as she knew what she had been capable of before. The Death Eaters and teachers were the ones truly in shock at the barbaric display.

"I would assume that this is our culprit?" Voldemort asked casually, flicking a silencing charm at the screaming wizard.

Holly flashed him a malicious smile.

"I'm afraid you're going to need a new Ancient Runes professor. Hermione?"

"Yes?" the woman replied.

"You have a Mastery in Ancient Runes, don't you? Holly asked.

"Yes…"

Holly looked at Voldemort and forced her emotions on the subject towards their link.

"Fine," he snapped at her. He turned to Hermione. "You're hired. I expect you to begin sometime in the next week."

Hermione blinked at him in shock.

"Do you really have anything better to do now that you're free of the Resistance?" Holly asked.

"I was going to spend time catching up with you," Hermione commented.

"Don't worry. I'm planning on sticking around for the rest of the year," Holly said pleasantly. "I want to be on hand for extra protection. Just because I haven't shown off my magic doesn't mean I haven't used it; Voldemort and I duel weekly."

"I have to deal with you longer?" Voldemort asked in alarm.

"You lived with me while I was pregnant and hormonal and you were my only company. At least now I have other people to go bother. And I'm not pregnant and hormonal this time. I'll throw fewer vases at your head, that's for sure. Can I go back to torturing Towler now?" Holly asked, baring her teeth in a vicious smile towards the man pinned to the wall.

"We need to focus on finding Lucy," Voldemort reminded, his voice taking on a soothing tone he rarely had a reason to use. "Holly – Valerie – listen to me. You are the best general the Order of the Phoenix ever had for a reason. You may have been a Gryffindor, but you have the mind and cool logic of a Slytherin. Use it. Do not let your emotions rule your actions. You are better than that!"

Holly's eyes flashed. When she next spoke, it was in Parseltongue instead of English.

"He raped her, Tom. Her virginity was stolen from her in the most terrifying way possible. She will never forget that. She will always wonder whether she deserved it like he told her. She will always feel dirty inside, because a man like him took her. Trust me, I know," Holly hissed, dropping her head to her chest as her magic released the trembling man, who collapsed immediately to the ground.

Voldemort staked over to stand in front of Holly. He reached out and grasped her chin, raising her eyes to his. He flicked his fingers to raise a silencing barrier around them. His single question was in English.

"Who, Holly?"

She took a shaky breath.

"I was sixteen. Bellatrix and Rodolphus Imperiused some Muggle men," She said shortly. She forced her emotions behind her Occlumency walls, allowing the apathetic numbness to set in. "Clear the room of everyone uninvolved in the fight against the Resistance. Towler's mind showed no sign of conspirators, but that doesn't mean that other teachers are not involved. Dose their drinks with Veritaserum at dinner sometime. It's wonderfully effective."

"You've done it before?" Voldemort asked.

"Standard procedure in the Order. I dosed the food at least once a week. It's also a great opportunity for blackmail."

"I'll keep that in mind. Are you calm enough to go back to the meeting?"

Holly ignored the question.

"I think the majority of the people in here need to go," Holly said. "The only ones who need to know the full plan are you and I. The Malfoys, Lestrange, Zabini, Luna, and Hermione can be included more than the rest, as it affects them more than most. No one else should stay."

"Point," Voldemort conceded. He lowered the silencing barrier. "Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, Rabastan, Blaise, Luna, and Granger, stay. Everyone else, get out."

Grumbling started, but a glare from Voldemort shut them up quickly.

"Flint, Nott, lock Towler in the dungeons. Make sure he lives, but do not be afraid to show him our…hospitality," Voldemort instructed.

The pair nodded.

"If he does die, I'll take my frustrations out on you instead," Holy added sweetly, the look in her eyes and her bloodthirsty grin promising pain to the first person stupid enough to cross her.

The two men paled as they grabbed the prisoner and levitated him out of the room. They weren't careful about what they allowed him to run into either.

Voldemort sealed the door behind them and threw up a series of wards. Holly activated another set built into the Headmaster's office that Dumbledore had told her about by pushing down several bricks on the floor and walls in a certain order. The ancient silencing wards went up.

"I have been trying to figure out those wards for more than a decade, and you've been able to activate them all along?" Voldemort groaned.

"If I'd known you didn't know, I would have told you," Holly replied. "It's your fault for not telling me. If I'd known you didn't know, I would have told you."

"How do you know?" Hermione asked. "I thought only the Headmaster knew."

"I conducted far too many meetings in here for Dumbledore not to tell me, Holly replied. "Now, first things first. Kreacher!"

An ancient house-elf appeared beside her as she retook her seat at Voldemort's right hand.

"Mistress is calling Kreacher again? Oh, Kreacher is happy to be serving Mistress again instead of the filthy blood traitors? What is Mistress needing from Kreacher?"

"Kreacher, is the Resistance keeping a girl captive in my house? She has the black hair and grey eyes and bears a great resemblance to a young Bellatrix," Holly asked.

"Kreacher remembers seeing her. The filthy blood-traitors is keeping her in Master Sirius's room. Kreacher is being ordered to make sure she is fed. Does Mistress know filthy blood traitors' prisoner? They was saying she is being a Mudblood," the house-elf rambled.

"Yes, Kreacher, I know her. She is not a Mudblood. She is my daughter, and the Heiress of the House of Black. Are you capable of removing her from the House?"

The house-elf shook his head mournfully.

"No, Mistress. The filthy blood-traitors were putting up wards against it."

"Can you get us into the house secretly?" Holly pressed.

Kreacher nodded, his head bobbing energetically.

"Yes, Mistress. I is being able to take you now," he said.

"Not quite yet, Kreacher. I will call you when we are ready. Return to the house, and keep watch over my daughter. I want hourly updates on her condition, but do not let anyone be aware that you are leaving. Do not tell anyone you have seen me. Do not speak to my daughter as your Mistress. She is yet unaware of her heritage. Do not reveal yourself to be protecting her, but take care of her the best you can."

"Yes, Mistress," the house-elf said with a bow.

"You are dismissed," Holly said.

The house-elf popped away.

Holly let out a huff of air.

"I can see the gears turning, Holly," Voldemort said. "What sort of plan have you made?"

"Hermione, Luna, and I will go in and get Lucy out," Holly said firmly. "I could probably do it on my own, but they will be there in case we need to fight our way out, which we probably will. I can't get Lucy out and fight off the entire Order at the same time. I need you to coordinate a multi-pronged attack on the Resistance, so that they are unable to pursue us. For that, I need to know exactly which Order hideouts you have managed to infiltrate, and which you've managed to destroy. If there's anything I know about still around, you can attack those. We need to throw the Resistance off by hitting them with multiple blows all at once. The loss of their prisoner will be one. The attack on Ronald Weasley will be another."

"What's happening to the Weasel?" the younger Malfoy asked with interest.

Holly began examining her nails.

"Oh, just a poorly executed castration charm. Maybe more, depending on how much he annoys me. The real question will be whether he bleeds out from the charm before someone finds him," Holly said, a vicious smile on her face.

The men in the room shuddered while Narcissa, Hermione, and Luna smirked.

"Does that mean all the Death Eaters we found poorly castrated were your work?" Lucius asked palely.

"They were the Morrígan's work, yes," Hermione confirmed. "And each and every one of them was either a rapist or abusive. Sometimes both."

"Did Weasley rape her as well?" Voldemort growled.

"I don't know yet, but he was giving her the same looks he gave me before trying to make advances on me. I hexed him silly for that. I don't know what he'll do to a girl less than half his age who can't defend herself," Holly said coldly.

"I know several of the Resistance hideouts as well," Hermione put in. "I can tell you most of the newly established hideouts, but Valerie knows all the old ones. It was part of her job as general. There are still some showing up that I didn't know about."

Holly nodded.

"Dumbledore and I both knew nearly everything. He didn't know everything about the war plans, and I didn't know whatever he spent all of his time doing, but we were both very well informed otherwise. We both knew where all the hideouts and storage spaces were. We were keyed in to the wards of every Order member and supporter in Britain. We controlled half the wards in Britain at one point. Any place the Order ever knew, I can tell you."

Voldemort grimaced.

"I, for one, find it incredibly irritating that there are still places we haven't found after sixteen bloody years."

Holly smirked slightly.

"We were very good at hiding things. Well, Dumbledore and I were. We were the only two with Slytherin traits in the lot."

"That was a problem of having a following of mostly Gryffindors. Common sense and subtlety aren't exactly common traits," Hermione mentioned.

"Did you also get distracted often? I feel that you are all ADHD," Draco complained.

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"You know what ADHD is?" Holly asked after a shocked moment of silence.

"Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder," he replied. At her shocked look, he shrugged. "I spent two years undercover as a Muggle school teacher. As the new teacher, it was decided that I should get all the problem children."

Voldemort used the silence to Summon a map of Britain from one of the cabinets. He laid it across the desk and waved his wand over it. Tiny green Dark Marks appeared in different spots on the map.

"These are all the locations that we have found the Order or Resistance in," he stated.

Holly waved her own wand across the map, causing red dots to appear.

"These are all the locations I know of the Order being in."

Hermione also waved her wand over the map, adding orange stars.

"These are all the locations the Resistance is in."

There were several dozen red dots and orange stars not covered by Dark Marks. The Malfoys, Zabini, and Voldemort stared at the map.

"You lot were more effective than I thought," Voldemort stated, slightly shocked.

Holly shrugged.

"There was a reason we managed to hold Britain against you for seven years. Granted, it was much less effective once I 'died', but we did have brains," she stated.

"We kept your 'no quarter' policy towards all live combatants," Hermione added helpfully. "Dumbledore tried to stop it, but a good portion of us kept it, and the newer recruits joined in once they realized we were more effective. That's what gave us the extra two years before Hogwarts fell."

"You still lost," Voldemort pointed out.

"We expected to," Hermione said dismissively.

"How are we planning to get Lucinda back?" Draco asked impatiently.

Holly and Voldemort stared at each other for a moment.

"Potter, Lovegood, and Granger will penetrate the Order's Headquarters exactly five minutes past four this afternoon," Voldemort said.

"It's Potter again? Tom, I thought we were friends!" Holly said with forced dramatics.

He gave her a look. She shrugged.

"As owner of the residence, I can Apparate in, though only to the entrance hall. Kreacher will give me the all clear signal to go in, at which time I will send a mental message to Voldemort. We will then Apparate to the Order Headquarters while you all begin your attack," she said.

"When I receive Holly's message, I will send a message through the Dark Mark to begin the attack. It will be a four-part attack. I will attack the largest base that is known. Zabini will lead an attack on the largest storage center. Lucius and Rabastan will also be leading separate attacks on other bases," Voldemort added.

"It will take us anywhere between three and five minutes, depending on the level of resistance we face. Hermione will be uncloaked. Luna will use Fae magic to become invisible. I will be under my Invisibility Cloak," Holly stated.

"Moody can see through an invisibility cloak," Lucius objected.

Holly smirked.

"Not my Cloak. Not Death's Cloak."

Dumbledore had spilled the beans about the Potter family Cloak when Valerie was eighteen. This was about the same time that she acquired the Elder Wand after finally defeating Dumbledore in a duel. Valerie had sworn to not go looking for the last of the Deathly Hallows, but she had accidentally acquired the Resurrection Stone when Voldemort asked her to guard the Gaunt Ring during her sojourn in the Muggle World. So far, she had found no benefits to the arrangement of being Death's apparent "Master".

Voldemort nodded, confirming her story. After Holly had informed him of her accidental ascension to the "Master of Death" title, he had done everything in his power to spot her while under the Cloak. Everything had failed. Since that time, he had borrowed the Cloak on occasion, but usually left it with Holly so that she could use it if she needed to escape.

"Mad-Eye can't see Wrackspurts either," Luna added helpfully. "They make his brain just as fuzzy as everyone else's."

Holly nodded. She already knew that. Moody's magic eye had few limitations, but Fae magic was one of them.

"Lucius, you will take a team and attack here," Voldemort ordered, tapping a Resistance mark near Dorchester. "Rabastan, your team will go to Caernarfon and attack the Resistance there. I will be leading the attack at Inverness. Take teams of forty. Do not tell them the rest of the plan. All of you out."

Everyone began filing out.

"Draco, stay behind," Voldemort added as an afterthought.

The younger blond stepped out of the way of the rest of those filing out. Eventually, Holly, Draco and Voldemort were the only ones in the room.

Voldemort stared at the two of them for a moment before saying, "I believe you two have a great deal to speak of. Do not be late."

He stalked out of the room, sealing the door behind him.

There was a long silence as Draco and Holly avoided looking at one another.

Finally, Draco broke and said, "I am glad to see you well, Valerie."

"Don't, Draco," Holly replied dully. "Don't speak to me as if nothing happened. You must be furious with me."

"Somewhat," Draco agreed, "but an hour ago I thought you were dead. Dead, Valerie. Gone forever. The one person I ever loved, and you died after my last words to you were, 'I hate you.'"

Holly froze. "The – the only person?"

Draco nodded solemnly. "Only you."

There was another long, awkward silence before Holly said, "I suppose I should tell you: you have two children."

Draco snorted. "Thanks, I kind of figured that out. Were you ever going to tell me?"

"Personally, no. I was under an Unbreakable Vow not to reveal my magic or identity, but there are ways around that. Once the twins had graduated, I was going to tell them you were their father and give them a letter for you. The letter would say that I hoped you could figure out who I was on your own, but to ask Voldemort for confirmation," Holly replied simply.

"Would he have told me?" Draco asked curiously.

Holly shrugged. "Hopefully, he would have told you simply because he was excited to finally get the twins' father's name out of me. By the way, Voldemort is the twins' godfather."

Draco immediately began choking on air. Holly calmly patted his back and conjured a glass of water for him to drink.

Once he had gulped it down, he asked, "I'm sorry, but did you just say that the _Dark Lord_ was the twins' godfather?"

"Yes," Holly nodded. "He was my only company for the greater part of my pregnancy, and he was there for the birth. He had also already sworn to protect my children as I could not, so I decided to simply make him the godfather. Brax is named after him too."

"Why did you name them the way you did?" Draco asked, eyes curious with a glimmer of suspicion in them.

"You don't know their full names. _They_ don't know their full names. Our son is Thomas Cedric Sirius Abraxas Potter-Black-Malfoy, and our daughter is Lucinda Sara Luna Hermione Potter-Black-Malfoy. Thomas for Voldemort, Cedric for Cedric Diggory, Sirius for my godfather, Abraxas for your grandfather. Lucinda was named for your father, Sara for one of my favorite books, and I know you recognize Luna and Hermione," Holly said.

"And you're Valerie Lillian Potter-Black-Malfoy," Draco said firmly.

Holly started.

"Excuse me?"

Draco's face turned slightly sheepish.

"Do you remember the ritual we did before the first time we slept together?"

Holly nodded sharply.

"That was a partnership bond. It's the lesser form of a marriage bond. It makes all children born to parents under the partnership bond legitimate, and counts as a marriage, until one or both of the partners enter formal marriage bonds," Draco admitted. "So, we're sort-of married."

She stared at him for a long moment.

"When were you planning on telling me this?"

Draco winced almost imperceptibly.

"When we were no longer on opposite sides?"

Holly sighed. "I should probably yell at you, but I'm actually too stressed to do that right now. And I think your mother will take care of that for me. How about this: once Lucy is rescued and the attacks on the Resistance complete, I will tell our children about myself and you while you tell your parents about me and our children."

"My mother is going to kill me," Draco groaned. "Very well. Deal."

Voldemort chose that moment to poke his head in.

"Are you two done making nice yet? You have a daughter that needs to be rescued from the clutches of the vile Resistance."

Holly stared at him for a moment.

"Have you been near strange potions fumes recently? You're remarkably chipper."

Voldemort glared witheringly.

"I just found out that I not only have the best general of the Wizarding War on my side, but I've recruited one of the Resistance's top agents and now have the Order's infamous trio of assassins on my side. Lucy will be home shortly, and you've rejoined the Wizarding World, which you honestly should have done years ago. I am in a perfectly normal mood."

"I disagree, but we have better things to be doing than arguing. Are the teams assembled?" Holly asked, returning to a cool business tone.

"They will be by the time you and your friends survey the wards and guards on the Order headquarters," Voldemort drawled. "May I assume that it is younger Mr. Malfoy who has your necklace?"

Holly looked at Draco.

"I do," Draco nodded. "Would you like me to retrieve it for her, my Lord?"

Voldemort looked at Holly.

"Would a Death Eater attack on the Order's Headquarters aid your escape?"

Holly sighed. "We should probably have the option, though I'd rather not destroy it. It is my house, and it does have quite a few valuables in it. Speaking of valuables, you and I need to go to Gringotts so that I can have my vaults back."

"What happened to them?" Draco asked curiously.

"The goblins have been holding my accounts in abeyance until I return personally to claim them or Brax and Lucy come of age. Tom here is the one monitoring the accounts until then. He's been receiving my bank statements and managing my investments, and the last I'd heard he was doing a good job of it," Holly said, looking towards the Dark Lord.

He waved his hand in dismissal.

"You were filthy rich before, you're even richer now. Between the multitude of fortunes your children are inheriting, they can spend ten thousand galleons a day and their great-grandchildren still won't have to work a day of their lives. Don't worry about it."

"It can wait until after we have Lucy back anyway," Holly said firmly. "We have our plan. Are the Death Eaters in position?"

"They are waiting to leave," Voldemort promised. "Granger and Lovegood are waiting for you just outside. As soon as you're ready, I will lower the Apparition wards so that you can Apparate directly from my office. Draco, you will also Apparate directly from here to wherever you have hidden Holly's necklace. Once you have retrieved it, return here and wait for me to call for you. If Holly needs me to enter the Fidelius Charm, having me hold the necklace while she tells me the Secret through our bond should be effective."

"I'm ready," Holly stated firmly. She looked first Voldemort, then Draco, in the eye.

"I'll bring her home," she swore. "I'll bring our Lucy home."


End file.
